Professor Zhang Yaxin was born in November 1949. He started working in July 1968, and began publishing literary works in 1974. In 1980, he was admitted to the graduate programin the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Shandong University, majoring in Modern and Contemporary Literature, with Professor Gao Lan as his Thesis Advisor. In 1983, he obtained an MA degree in Literature from Shandong University. Subsequently he joined the staff of the Institute of Language and Literature in the Shandong Academy of the Social Sciences, and worked there for many years, specializing in the study of modern and contemporary poetry and songs at home and abroad. In 1998, he was appointed as a Researcher at the Institute. In 2004, he was transferred to Shandong University, with the role and rank as Professor. At the same time, Professor Zhang also served as a Thesis Advisor for MA students. He has authored and published more than a dozen monographs, including The Aesthetics Process in Modern Poetry. Professor Zhang has also authored and published hundreds of papers and articles in Literary Review and other scholarly journals. The overall volume of his publications amounts to several million words. Professor Zhang has won many awards, including the National Book Award several times. In addition to his faculty position, he also serves as a Director of the Chinese Association for the Study of Poetry and Songs, and a Director of the Chinese Association for the Study of the Poetic Works of Mao Zedong.

Professor Zhang offers many courses at Shandong University including, primarily:

“A Study of Poetry and Songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan”, (an elective for undergraduates)

“History of Chinese Literature in the Twentieth Century”, (an elective for undergraduates)

“A Study of Novels of Martial Chivalry”, (a general University-wide undergraduate elective)

“Research in Poetry and Songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan”, (an elective for graduate students)

“Poetry’s Currents in the Twentieth Century and Chinese and Western Cultures”, (an elective for graduate students)